Reported inquiries may have been spurred by 2016 ANA investigation

Skullduggery

Communications industry website Campaignlive.com recently reported claims that the FBI has been contacting people with knowledge of the ad industry and asking for their help in recent months. A source for the article claims that the bureau may be aiming to gather information about specific companies and their senior leaders.

In line with the FBI's secretive nature, a bureau spokesperson refused to confirm or deny any investigation.

The trigger for this investigation – if there is an actual investigation – may have been a report commissioned by the Association of National Advertisers, conducted by the K2 Intelligence firm. This report, issued in 2016, decried a number of nontransparent business practices in the ad industry, including undisclosed cash rebates allegedly received by unnamed agency groups and significant and possibly improper media purchase markups.

The head of K2 cited emails that allegedly revealed open discussion between agency "executives and media companies" regarding rebates, which is a practice that is not permitted in the United States.

Alternatively, there is some speculation that the FBI may be opening an investigation into online ad fraud, which has been plaguing the media supply chain for a number of years. Concerns about transparency in the media-trading ecosystem would fall under the purview of the FBI, which has authority to investigate white collar crime, including the evasion of regulations, and to enforce anti-kickback statutes.

The Takeaway

Time will tell if this act of industry self-policing will lead to a full-blown action by the Department of Justice or if it is merely a prompt for paranoia.

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